


Must Be Santa

by flyingcrowbar



Series: Christmas Prompts [1]
Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Bakery, Christmas Fluff, F/M, I REGRET NOTHING, MORE THAN I EXPECTED, this turned into a thing
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-12-14
Updated: 2016-12-14
Packaged: 2018-09-08 11:05:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,648
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8842270
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/flyingcrowbar/pseuds/flyingcrowbar
Summary: Christmas Prompt #13: Percy's little sister Hannah wants to meet her favorite athlete - MMA fighter Annabeth Chase - for Christmas. She writes a letter to Santa, asking for it to happen.





	

> _ Dear Santa, _
> 
>  
> 
> _ I have been very good this year. _
> 
> _ I clean my room when my mom and dad tell me to. I say please and thank you. I gave a stray cat some tuna. I named her Pepper. And I didn’t punch Jack Teller too hard when he pushed me in the snow yesterday.  _
> 
> _ Please give the toys you were going to give me to other kids who need them. I want to make them happy.  _
> 
> _ For Christmas, I want to meet Annabeth Chase. _
> 
>  
> 
> _ Love, _
> 
> _ Hannah Blofis _
> 
>  
> 
> _ P.S. Here is a cat sticker. I hope you like it.  _

* * *

“Hannah, don’t sit so close to TV,” Percy reminded, calling to his baby sister who was perched on her knees in front of the screen. Immediately after dinner, Hannah - still working on a mouthful of mashed potatoes - had leapt from her chair, dashed to the living room, and turned on the fight, leaving Percy, Sally and Paul to clean up the dishes. Her little hands were pressed against the glass as her hero filled the television. 

Annabeth Chase, champion MMA fighter, stared down her off-screen opponent before the fight. She snarled, revealing her black mouth guard and making it look like a toothless grin. Her blonde boxer braids draped over her sponsor-ridden sports bra as she warmed up, flexing her insane biceps unconsciously to the roar of the crowd. 

Judo Barbie is what the media called her. Though, based on the interviews and press conferences she’d given, Annabeth didn’t seem keen on that nickname and - in Percy’s limited knowledge about her - would expect that the person who came up with it would be met with a swift punch to the throat if they ever crossed paths. 

For Hannah to claim Annabeth as her hero proved to be a little worrisome to her school teacher. She voiced concerns that Hannah’s interests would overflow into playground altercations, and her reasons were not unfounded. (Unbeknownst to Sally and Paul, it wasn’t all Annabeth’s fault. Percy had been the one to say that if a boy ever pulled her pigtails, she shouldn’t hesitate to show him what’s what.) 

“Where does she get this kind of obsession?” Paul asked, a question he had been almost constantly pondering for the past few months. Since summer, it had been fight-this and Annabeth-that with Hannah, practically nothing else coming from her jabbering mouth. At the grocery store, being tugged along by the hand, she’d rattle off statistics and fighting strategies, accompanied by bug-eyed looks from eavesdropping strangers. Even if Percy bought her a lollipop to occupy her mouth for a little piece and quiet, she’d talk around it without slowing down. As the seasons changed and the leaves turned orange and the air grew crisp, she turned into a babbling bundle of oversized coats and muffling scarves, waddling alongside anyone who would ( _ read: forced to _ ) listen.

“I can’t imagine where she got her affinity for violence from…” Sally said from the kitchen, half-jokingly, half-admonishingly in that mom-ish way of hers. 

Both Sally and Paul glanced at Percy who held up his hands in surrender, still clutching the used forks and knives. 

“Don’t look at me,” he said. “I’m just as confused as you are.”

His blue hair and torn jeans seemed to give people the wrong idea about his attitude. Even his mother and his step-father seemed to think he was just asking for fights on the street. More often, the fights found him. His split lip was still fresh, his black eye still tender. 

“What am I supposed to do, just let someone mug me? Right before Christmas?” Percy asked, after both Paul and Sally held their looks. 

“Yes,” they said, simultaneously. 

Percy rolled his eyes, silently admitting that maybe it wasn’t the smartest thing to do. A lot of people got hurt for a lot less in New York. He was just lucky he wasn’t one of them.

But it  _ was _ almost Christmas. He had saved up most of his tips working at the bakery to buy Hannah something special. What it was he hadn’t decided on yet, but he wasn’t about to let those muggers make the decision for him. 

Hannah didn’t look like the type to be obsessed with bloody fights. But it was a daily occurrence to see her sitting in front of the TV, as she was doing now, wearing her Disney princess costume (today’s was Princess Anna’s) and staring starry-eyed at a fight playing out.

Distant relatives were always shocked when their assumptions were proven wrong by her enthusiastically decorated bedroom. Amongst the Disney princess figurines and American Girl dolls and My Little Pony books were posters of Annabeth plastered all over her walls, making it look like an interior designer had become confused. 

She’d play dress-up in the same mix and match way. In some of Sally’s old clothes from the eighties, she’d award herself championship belts, just like the ones Annabeth had won, crafted out of yogurt lids and cut up cereal boxes. For Halloween, she was Annabeth too. While her classmates dressed up like mummies or witches, Hannah was a miniature, dark-haired Annabeth clone. Percy really couldn’t have been more proud. 

From the living room, Hannah whooped loudly over the roar of the TV. Percy looked up from boxing up one of the pies he had brought from the bakery and glanced over to see Annabeth pummeling her fists into her opponent who was down on the floor of the octagon. 

Sally sighed. It was no use getting Hannah to shift her interests elsewhere. She had decided it might just be a phase and to let Hannah wear herself out. So far, her enthusiasm hasn’t even begun to fade. No matter how much Sally tried, Hannah just wasn’t budging. Stubbornness was a family trait, after all. 

“At least Hannah’s not using her powers for evil,” Percy noted to his mother. 

“I suppose,” she said. 

Paul scrubbed the dishes while Sally put away the leftovers. They drifted into conversation about their day and the upcoming holiday plans while Percy leaned against the counter to watch the television. He stared, slack-jawed at the raw violence being played out in front of him. Annabeth’s opponent had broken her nose and was bleeding all over Annabeth’s shoulder while Annabeth continued her assault. Her athleticism was absolutely amazing, but the brutality of it was shocking. 

Hannah had noticed Percy was watching and excitedly called out to him. “Isn’t she so cool?”

“She’s something,” Percy said, still staring. It was hard to look away. 

Hannah nodded and turned back to the television, her wide eyes filled with the reflection of the screen. He’d never seen anyone look at anything the way Hannah looked at Annabeth. It filled him up with a warmth in his chest, equivalent to downing a whole mug of his mom’s famous hot chocolate in one go. Her admiration was endearing. Annabeth was a strong, independent, tough woman. Percy guessed it was only natural for a little girl to look up to her like that. 

“Percy, hun, can you take out the trash?” Sally asked. 

“Sure thing, ma,” he said, tearing his eyes away from the carnage on the television.

He gathered up the garbage from the kitchen, and decided to make it all one trip and do the same for the other trash cans around the house. He gathered the bags from the bathroom, his bedroom (currently Paul’s office but Percy’s room when he came home for the holiday), and then finally from Hannah’s bedroom. 

While tucking away the plastic bag into the larger one, his eyes skimmed over Hannah’s desk. Crayons drawings were scattered everywhere, and he smiled as he looked at all of her stick figure drawings of herself and her family standing in front of their townhouse in Manhattan. He liked how blue she had drawn his hair. Percy thumbed through a few of them, ready to ask Hannah which one he should hang on the refrigerator when he noticed a letter written in crayon in her sloppy scrawl. 

_ Dear Santa…  _ it read.

Percy’s eyes widened as he looked it over. 

An idea popped into his head. 

* * *

Percy read through his email once again, checking for any spelling errors (of which there were still many) or any confusing sentences before he hit send. He nibbled on the end of his thumb. He didn’t expect to hear back immediately. In fact, he wasn’t even sure the email would get read, but what did he have to lose? He’d do anything to make Hannah happy. 

 

> _ Hello, _
> 
>  
> 
> _ My name is Percy Jackson. There’s no reason you should know me, and I have no right to ask for a favor, but my little sister is obsessed with you.  _
> 
> _ Her name is Hannah Blofis.  _
> 
> _ She’s six years old. She loves cats. Her favorite color is pink. And she loves you probably more than anything else in the world. (Besides me, her best older brother of course.)  _
> 
> _ Here is a photo of her in her room. Her posters are some of her most prized possessions. She’s been begging for us to take her to one of your fights, but our parents are obviously hesitant.  _
> 
> _ I’ve attached a picture of a letter she wrote to Santa hoping to meet you.  _
> 
> _ If it wouldn’t be too much trouble, could I ask for a signed photograph to give to her for Christmas? It would make her entire year, if not make her entire life.  _
> 
> _ I don’t expect a response, but it was worth a shot. She’ll always be your fan forever anyway. I can pay you for the autograph and for the postage.  _
> 
> _ Our address is… _

 

“What are you doing?” Hannah asked loudly in his ear. 

Percy jumped when he realized Hannah was peering over his shoulder to look at the laptop situated on his lap. He hit send and snapped the cover closed and smiled, even though his heart was hammering.

“Nothing,” he said.

“Nuh uh,” Hannah said, scrunching up her nose. She had some chocolate smudged on her cheek from what was obviously the brownie batch he was planning on using that night. “You’re lying.”

“You’re right,” Percy said. “I am lying. But you have also been eating some of my brownie batter, so that makes us even.”

He grabbed her around the middle and tugged her onto the couch where he started tickling her mercilessly under her arms. She kicked and shrieked, squirming to get away. Her laughter was loud and infectious.

“You’re no match for me!” Percy roared, tickling even more. 

* * *

On Christmas morning, Percy sat, still half-asleep, curled up on the couch while he watched Hannah tear through one of her first presents of the morning. 

He was still wearing his pajamas but put on a sweatshirt to stamp out the cold that threatened to rouse him any further. It had snowed sometime during the night, so the fire Paul lit was welcome in the early morning for present opening. 

The tree glinted in the light from the fireplace and the golden morning sun coming in through the window. He drowsily sipped from the coffee mug he didn’t remember Paul handing to him. 

Hannah ooh’d and aah’d over all the gifts “Santa” had delivered while she was asleep. Percy was so glad to see that she had so many presents. She excitedly took everyone’s presents from under the tree and delivered it to them by hand. She got so much joy out of just handing them wrapped gifts, it seemed like that itself was an added present from Santa. 

“Here you go, Percy!” Hannah said, holding out a lumpy gift that Percy suspected was a new pair of pajama pants - a Sally Jackson tradition. 

“Thank you,” Percy said, kissing her on the top of her head. 

She scurried away and retrieved more presents to give out. Percy’s smile fell a little. His special present had never come in the mail. He hadn’t expected it to come anyway. He had only emailed a week ago, still not even an acknowledgement. He should have just forged her autograph and pretended it was from Annabeth, but he couldn’t bear to lie to Hannah like that. 

He settled for buying her a new box of crayons - the 64-count box that she’d been begging to have since all the cool kids at school had them - and a mermaid puzzle he hoped she would ask him to help with. She would thank him - and did when she opened his shoddy wrapping job - and she would play with them as any six year old could, but he knew that she would be wondering if Santa ever got her letter, if he really was magic and could deliver the greatest wish of all. 

He put on his smile again when Hannah ran over and delivered yet another present into his lap. He’d never tell her that Annabeth never responded.

After all the presents had been unwrapped, they got to preparing that morning’s breakfast. The whole house smelled of citrus, and sausage, and pumpkin waffles. Percy even made his signature Monkey Bread, a bestseller at the bakery, which Hannah tried to steal bites of straight from the oven. Percy was in charge of slicing up the fresh fruit for the fruit salad when the doorbell buzzed. 

Sally looked up from her omelet casserole. 

“Who could that be?” she asked.

“Perhaps carolers?” Paul suggested.

Percy’s heart skipped like a stone across a pond.  _ It couldn’t be… _

“I’ll get it,” he said. 

Hannah looked up from her spot on the floor in the living room, having already opened her new books and seemingly trying to read all of them at once, but quickly returned her attention to the more appealing matter at hand than a bunch of carolers coming to the door. 

As Percy walked, he thought of a dozen other things that could be waiting behind that door but something made him hope, just  _ hope _ , that maybe the postman had forgotten the letter earlier in the week and made a special trip to deliver it just for Hannah. 

But when he opened the door to the brisk Christmas morning wind, the air was nearly punched out of him not by the cold but by who was standing on the stoop. 

He gaped.

Annabeth Chase. The Judo Barbie herself. 

She was a lot taller in person than he had anticipated, though still shorter than him. Even in her peacoat and heavy snow boots, he could see just how muscular she was. She wore a hat over her braided blonde hair and was carrying a large paper bag. Her nose was nipped pink in the cold and her eyes brightened when they landed on Percy. They took each other in for half a beat before either of them spoke. 

Percy suddenly felt very exposed in just his very thin pajama pants and a sweatshirt.

“Hi,” Annabeth said. “Is this the home of Hannah Blofis?”

“Uhh…” Percy said. 

“I think I got the right address.”

“Y-Yeah, Hannah lives here,” he said. “I’m her older brother, Percy.”

“Ah,” she said, her eyes crinkling.

“You’re here,” he said, stupidly.

“I’m here,” she agreed.

Percy’s cheeks erupted in heat. “I didn’t think -”

“I hope I’m not interrupting anything.”

Percy shook his head.

“No, we were just going to sit for breakfast.”

“I can come back another time. I was in the neighborhood and decided to stop by in person and deliver Hannah’s present plus a few extras.”

She held up the bag to show him. 

Percy was dumbfounded. Never had he anticipated that Annabeth Chase would be standing on his doorstep on Christmas morning. 

“Percy, who’s at the door?” his mom called from behind him before she stepped up to see for herself. She too gaped when she saw Annabeth standing there. 

“You’re…” Sally started.

“Hi, I’m Annabeth. You must be Hannah’s mother,” she said, holding out her gloved hand by way of introduction. 

“Please, call me Sally,” she said, accepting the handshake. 

“Sally,” Annabeth repeated with a smile.

She was so nice. Percy had a hard time believing that this was the same person who fought people for a living. 

Sally rounded on him. “Percy, don’t be rude! Invite her inside!”

Dumbly, Percy stepped aside and Annabeth brushed past him. She kicked off her boots in the entryway and followed Percy’s mom further into the house. 

Before she could go much farther, he reached out and touched Annabeth on the shoulder. 

“Wait,” he said. “I just want to say…” He swallowed thickly as her stark gray eyes settled on him. “Thank you, for doing this. You’re going to make her cry.”

“I hope not,” Annabeth said with a grin. 

“No, I mean, she’s going to be so happy. I can’t ever repay you.”

“Don’t worry about it,” she said. “It’s my pleasure.”

Percy’s heart swelled, just like the Grinch’s. He hoped it wouldn’t explode. “Can I take your coat?”

“Oh thanks,” she said. She shrugged it off and handed it to him. She was wearing a modest sweater and blue jeans. Her socks were the only thing festive about her. 

He hung it up on the coat rack at the entrance and she let him go first. He found Hannah still on her spot on the floor but she looked up curiously when he came back in. 

“Hey Hannah,” he said, his smile achingly wide. “So there’s one last present that Santa had to drop off, specially for you.”

Her eyes immediately started swimming with tears. She jumped to her feet.

“Santa was here?”

“Yup, and he’s got a big surprise for you,” Percy said.

Annabeth took one step into the living room and Hannah shrieked like she’d never shrieked before. She ran at Annabeth, sobbing, and barreled straight into her. She wrapped her little arms around Annabeth’s waist, making Annabeth awkwardly bowlegged, and squeezed with all her might. Annabeth laughed and Sally took a picture with her phone. 

Paul stood by, stunned, while Hannah cried and cried into Annabeth’s sweater.

Percy was full to bursting with pride. 

“Ohmigod, ohmigod, ohmigod,” Hannah wept, her words a muffled mess against Annabeth’s body. Annabeth flashed Percy a smile before she was able to bend down to Hannah’s height and look her in the eye. Hannah wiped away the tears streaming down her cheeks. She couldn’t even look at Annabeth, she was so overcome. 

“Hey, Hannah. I’m Annabeth, but you probably already know that.”

Sally laughed, and Percy smiled. Paul was still in shock. 

“S-Santa…” Hannah barely managed to say through sobs. 

“That’s right. Santa brought me here,” she said, giving Percy a wink. 

Percy’s cheeks flushed again. He looked away and pretended that something much more interesting was happening out the window. 

“I heard you were a really good girl this year so I wanted to give you some things.”

Hannah watched, wide-eyed, as Annabeth bestowed upon her an official UFC champion baseball cap, a t-shirt with Annabeth’s face on it (sized Large, so it fit her like a dress), two tickets to see Annabeth’s next fight, and an autographed photo - just as Percy had requested. 

Hannah was too overcome with emotion to say anything, other than to cry. She held Annabeth’s hand the entire time, like she was afraid that Annabeth wasn’t real, like she would vanish any second. Annabeth sat there on the floor with her for a long time, long enough for Hannah to calm down and finally process that all of this was actually happening. 

The cap was too large for Hannah’s head and sat over her eyes, and she could practically get lost in that shirt. Sally took photos the whole time, and Annabeth smiled for all of them. In ten years, those photos would prove to be hilarious.

“Hey, Hannah,” Percy would say. “Remember that time you met Annabeth Chase and your nose was a snot river in all your photos?”

He smiled at the thought of it. Annabeth noticed him again and his stomach dropped like he’d missed a step on the stairs. 

Hannah threw her arms around Annabeth’s neck and it didn’t look like she was going to let go any time soon.

Surprisingly, Annabeth was handling all of it quite well. Percy never would have figured that she was the same woman he saw beating the ever-loving shit out of another person on TV. She was stacked like an athlete, but she was so good with Hannah, it was like there were two different Annabeths out there in the world. The way she talked to Hannah, like she was the only person in the world, and how she played along when Hannah showed her all of the new presents she got for Christmas, and asked her about her favorite movies and what her favorite subjects in school were. 

Something tickled Percy’s cheek and he brushed it away but his fingers came away wet. He was crying. He was so happy. He turned away so no one could see and wiped the remaining unshed tears with the sleeve of his sweatshirt. He needed a distraction or else he would embarrass himself in front of a world class athlete. 

“Uh, ma,” he said, moving toward the kitchen. “Need any help with setting the table?”

“We’re all good, Percy,” Sally said. “Annabeth, would you like to join us? We have more than enough. You’re more than welcome to stay.”

“Forever, if you want,” Paul mumbled. He too must have been impressed with how Annabeth was dealing with Hannah’s enthusiasm. 

Annabeth flushed. “Oh, I don’t want to intrude…”

“Ridiculous,” Sally said.

“Please, please stay,” Hannah begged, practically bouncing on top of Annabeth. 

Annabeth glanced at Percy. He prayed she couldn’t tell that he had gotten all teary-eyed. Based on her expression, she didn’t. 

“I’d love to,” she told Sally, beaming.

Hannah screamed so loudly, Sally’s grandmother’s china practically rattled in the cabinets. 


End file.
